The Stomach Bug – My secret remedy to stop it!

The Stomach Bug

So the stomach virus (stomach flu or stomach bug or gastroenteritis) is visiting your home, and you need to kick it out immediately? There are lots of ways to stop the spread in your home, but the one I have found most effective by far is to prevent the spreading by stopping the vomiting. Activated charcoal is my secret, it is a great stomach bug remedy.

First things first – it goes without saying that this is just my research and experience. I’m no doctor, and you should always rely on the advice of your health care provider.

I used to loathe the stomach virus. I still do really, but now I don’t sweat it as severely. At the first sign of stomach bug symptoms, I would quarantine the house. All children were confined to different rooms, followed into the bathroom for supervised hand washing, and strapped to a vomit bucket for the next 48 hours.

The stomach bug is so contagious because there are large amounts of the virus in an infected persons vomit and feces. Only a tiny trace is needed to infect the next kid. And it can even spread airborne after vomiting.

How I use Activated Charcoal:

Repeat if you need to but generally this stops vomiting for the next 4 hours while they sleep!

At the 4 hour mark, give them a few more sips.

After 12 hours has passed, they are done taking charcoal and just need rest.

The activated charcoal helps the virus pass through the digestive system and out of the body through feces. One more tip, just in case your vomit clean-up job wasn’t very good, don’t forget to take some for yourself!

Finding activated charcoal powder in stores can be difficult. For this use, I strongly recommend the powder versus the capsules. I have tried to cut open the capsules to add to water, but it can be messy. You can find the powder here on Amazon.

Conclusion

This natural remedy may or may not work for you, but I have found it to work consistently with my children over the years. I always make sure to have some charcoal powder at home and keep a bottle of the capsules in my car.

Here is a video that explains how it works:

Here are a few other tips to beat the stomach bug:

Essential oils can be used to treat the stomach bug and ease some of the symptoms. You can use them topically or diffuse them into the air.

Daily probiotics for your kids can decrease the chance they will come down with the stomach bug

Good cleaning habits around the house including good handwashing can limit the spread of the stomach bug around your house once the first person gets sick.

39 thoughts on “The Stomach Bug – My secret remedy to stop it!”

Wow! I knew activated charcoal was good for getting folks who have swallowed something poisonous to puke, but I would have never thought about it to serve this purpose! This just goes to show that you learn something new every day, truly. Thanks for sharing.

I am thankful to have not had to deal with a stomach bug with my kids as of yet. I am sure it will come and when it does I can try these tips and tricks. We may have not had a stomach bug but both my 1-year-old and 2 year old both have Hand, Foot and Mouth currently. It’s definitely not fun having any kind of sickness at home.

This is so helpful! I’ve always been a bit afraid of activated charcoal… just sounds dangerous right? But I think this time I’m going to get some because everything I’ve read about it is super beneficial.

I’ve never heard of ingesting charcoal. I’ve been super fortunate so far, as my kids don’t seem to be pukers. (The eldest puked the first time when she was 8 years old… and was at Brownie camp so I didn’t have to deal with it. But I’ll be tucking away this tidbit for future use in case Monkey or Fang need it.

I haven’t given activated charcoal to my children yet when they’re sick, but I’ve found it to be super effective at preventing myself from catching it after taking care of my kids! This stuff is a miracle worker.

This is such a helpful tips! My mom has always given me activated charcoal since I was a kid whenever we gotta kick out stomach virus. Thankfully, it’s not hard to find here as it’s sold at lots of drugstores.

We give activated charcoal to overdosing patients in the hospital. It binds to toxins, so your body can’t absorb them and carries then out through the intestines. It causes massive diarrhea though. That is how it is removing the medications from the OD. I would definitely check with a doctor before using on a patient with the flu because it can dehydrate you more. Be careful.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name*

Email Address*

Website

Comment

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Sign me up for Super Mom Picks!

Super Mom Picks | Leslie

Hi, I'm Leslie and I am a mom to three wonderful littles. I'm a full-time working mom and I enjoy blogging as a creative outlet. I created Super Mom Picks as a way to share my favorite tips, ideas, and products with mom's everywhere.